Auto Makers call on UK Govt for more EV Charging Points and a ‘Regulator’

Growth pangs are appearing for the EV sector in the United Kingdom, as the industry faces the challenge of  unavailability of the required number of EV battery charging stations in the country. Just when sales of EV’s are finally taking off in a big way. That has brought the  Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) urging the government to establish a watchdog to oversee electric car charging prices and the availability of charge points in the UK.

The industry body had called on the government to set up a new regulator called ‘Ofcharge’ or ‘the Office of Charging’ to monitor the development of charging infrastructure.

The industry says that in the decade between 2011 and 2021, the number of EV charge points in the country jumped from a mere 1,500 to more than 48,000. But the sales EVs in the period between 2019 and 2021 increased much faster than the charging points, exerting huge pressure on the infrastructure.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders also points to the uneven development of charging infrastructure. For example, it has gone faster in the south of England than in the north.

SMMT said, “Public charging points remain critical to consumer confidence and are still relied upon by many commercial fleets, as well as the third of British households that do not have designated off-street parking.” The UK Government has said that it was providing £1.3 billion to expand the charging network.

Vehicular pollution was the largest emitting factor in the UK in 2016. Data reveals that in 2020, the number of battery electric cars on the roads increased by a whopping 114% to a record high of around 200,000. Hybrid cars also jumped 35% to about 240,000. Second hand EV sales are also on an unprecedented rise.

Of course, at an overall level, electric cars still remain a tiny fraction of the cars on UK roads. They represent a mere 1.3% of the total vehicles. People in the UK continue to have concerns with regards to EV. The two key ones being the cost of buying a car and the number of charge points.

Even the Members of Parliament (MPs) have opined recently that the cost of public charging was very high and that problem needs to be addressed as energy prices have soared recently.